Out means Out?

Dr. Sabrina Klein

doi:10.5771/9783748945215

Summary

What rules of international law apply to the disintegration of a non-state subject of international law? This question arose against the background of Brexit and its practical effects on international agreements of the EU and its member states. The book first shows that the frequently invoked international treaty law does not provide a suitable basis for discussion to answer this question. An alternative explanatory approach is then analysed: Based on an evaluation of the preliminary work on the Vienna Convention on State Succession in Respect of Treaties, the book justifies an analogy between an EU withdrawal and state separations and argues in favour of treating Brexit as a case of treaty succession.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2025
Publication date: 06.01.2025
ISBN-Print: 978-3-7560-1602-0
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-4521-5
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Völkerrecht und Außenpolitik
Volume: 97
Language: English
Pages: 355
Product type: Book Titles

Titelei/InhaltsverzeichnisPages 1 - 22 Download chapter (PDF)
IntroductionPages 23 - 26 Download chapter (PDF)
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1. 1. A. EU Treaty Practice: A Formal Categorisation
  2. B. The Global Scale of EU Treaty Practice
2. 1. A. The UK Position: From Continuity to ‘Global Britain’
  2. B. The EU Position: Of Guidelines and Directives
  3. C. The UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement: Transitioning International Agreements
  4. D. Rolling Over: The UK’s (Re)Conclusion of International Agreements
3. III. The Research Question: What’s International Law Got to Do with It?
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1. 1. I. (Un)Identified Legal Object? The EU as an International Organisation
  2. 1. A. The International Law Template and Art. 50 TEU
    2. B. Unionalisation of the Withdrawal Procedure?
  3. III. Brexit as Treaty Withdrawal
2. 1. I. Lex generalis: Legal Consequences of Exiting an International Organisation
  2. 1. A. The Practice: Conventions Concluded between Member States
    2. B. The Limits: Agreements Concluded with Non-Member States
  3. 1. A. Art. 50 TEU: Lex specialis Arrangements for International Agreements?
    2. B. Inter se Agreements: The UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement as lex specialis?
    3. 1. 1. The EU’s International Agreements and Art. 216(2) TFEU
      2. 2. Lex mixity? The Status of EU Member States in Mixed Agreements
  4. IV. Brexit and its (Limited) Automatic Consequences
3. 1. 1. 1. 1. The EU’s inter se Agreements
      2. 2. The EU’s Mixed Agreements
    2. 1. 1. Definition of Parties: EU Member State Status in International Agreements
      2. 2. Territorial Scope of Application
      3. 3. Frustration of the Object and Purpose
      4. 4. Legal Consequences of Changes to An International Agreement
  2. 1. A. Automatic Termination: The Inappropriateness of Art. 62 VCLT
    2. 1. a. The Applicability of Art. 62 VCLT
        b. The Consequences of Invoking Art. 62 VCLT
        c. Lex mixity again? Art. 62 VCLT and Bilateral Mixed Agreements
      2. 2. The Substantive Conditions of Art. 62 VCLT: EU Withdrawal as a Fundamental Change of Circumstances?
  3. III. Brexit and its (Practical) Effects
4. Concluding Remarks: Brexit and Treaty Law – Match or Misfit?
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1. 1. 1. A. Brexit as Separation?
    2. B. The EU, its Member States and Statehood
    3. 1. 1. Beyond the VCSSRT: A Broader Customary Law of Succession?
      2. 2. Lex EU: A Specific Customary Law of EU Succession?
      3. 3. Filling a Legal Lacuna: Recourse to Legal Reasoning
  2. II. Methodical Excursus: Analogical Reasoning in International Law
  3. 1. A. The Source: Unions of States
    2. B. The Target: The European Union
    3. C. The Inferred Characteristic: Continuity of International Agreements
  4. IV. Applying Art. 34 VCSSRT to the Case of Brexit
2. 1. I. Methodical Excursus: Valid Analogical Reasoning and International Law
  2. 1. 1. 1. The Irrelevance of Sovereignty to a Succession of States
      2. 2. The Relevance of Competence and Responsibility to Succession
      3. 3. Replacing in Relevant Aspects
    2. 1. 1. The Relevance of Unions of States to Art. 34 VCSSRT
      2. a. Classical Dichotomy versus Federal Middle Ground
        b. A Reasonable Systematisation of Practice?
    3. 1. 1. The (Ir)Relevance of the EU’s Accession Practice to Codification
      2. 2. The Practice of the EU and Unions of States: Relevantly Similar
  3. 1. A. The Relevance of the Law of Treaties to the Law on Succession
    2. B. The Relevance of Treaty Stability to the Drafting of Art. 34 VCSSRT
    3. C. The Relevance of Treaty Stability in the Case of EU Withdrawal
  4. 1. A. The Irrelevance of the Principle of Consent in Drafting Art. 34 VCSSRT
    2. B. The Relevance of the Identity of the Treaty Partner in Bilateral Agreements
  5. V. Brexit Practice: Between Treaty Stability and Consent?
3. 1. 1. A. The Practice: Considering Instances of Separation
    2. 1. 1. Distinguishing between Separations and Dissolutions
      2. 2. Distinguishing between Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements
      3. 3. Devolution Agreements, Unilateral Declarations and Good Faith Negotiations
  2. 1. A. Procedural Similarities? From Unilateral Declarations to Rollovers
    2. B. Brexit and International Agreements: Between Continuity and a Clean Slate?
  3. III. Brexit and the Law of Succession: Match or Misfit?
4. Concluding Remarks: Towards a Law of EU Succession
5. Summary and Outlook
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1. Literature
2. Cases
3. International Agreements and Legislation
4. Documents and Miscellaneous Sources